BUSINESS DRIVEN TECHNOLOGY

Business Plug-In B7Ethics

INTRODUCTION

• Ethics – the principles and standards that guide our behavior toward other people

• Important ethical concepts stemming from IT:– Intellectual property: – intangible creative work that is embodied in physical

form.

– Copyright– Fair use doctrine (set of guideline )– In certain situations it is legal to use copyrighted

material.– Pirated software– Counterfeit software– Software that is manufactured to look like the real thing

and sold as such.

INTRODUCTION

• ePolicies address information privacy and confidentiality issues– ePolicies – policies and procedures that address the

ethical use of computers and Internet usage– Privacy – the right to be left alone when you want to be,

to have control over your own personal possessions, and not to be observed without your consent

– Confidentiality – the assurance that messages and data are available only to those who are authorized to view them

Ethically questionable or unacceptable IT use

Ethics

• Acting ethically and legally are not always the same

• Example: A call from insurance company….

INFORMATION HAS NO ETHICS

• Information has no ethics

• Information does not care how it is used

• Information will not stop itself from sending spam, viruses, or

highly-sensitive information

• Information cannot delete or preserve itself

• Therefore, it falls on the shoulders of those who lord over the

information to develop ethical guideline on how to mange it.

Developing Information Management Policies

• Organizations strive to build a corporate culture based on ethical principles that employees can understand and implement

• ePolicies typically include:Ethical computer use policy Information privacy policyAcceptable use policyE-mail privacy policy Internet use policyAnti-spam policy

1.ETHICAL COMPUTER USE POLICY

• Ethical computer use policy – contains general principles to guide computer user behavior

• The ethical computer user policy ensures all users are informed of the rules and, by agreeing to use the system on that basis, consent to abide by the rules

ETHICAL COMPUTER USE POLICY

• Six principles for ethical information management

2.INFORMATION PRIVACY POLICY

• The unethical use of information typically occurs “unintentionally” when it is used for new purposes– For example, UID numbers started as a way to identify

government benefits.

• Information privacy policy - contains general principles regarding information privacy

Organization guideline for creating an INFORMATION PRIVACY POLICY

• Information privacy policy guidelines: **1. Adoption and implementation of a privacy policy

Organization engaged Online or e- business

2. Notice and disclosure Organization’s privacy policy must be easy to find, read and understand. What information being collected The use of information Possible third party distribution of the information

3. Choice and consent Choice to individual regarding how information collected and consent of use.

4. Information security Take appropriate steps to protect information from loss, misuse and alteration.

5. Information quality and access use reliable sources, collection methods, appropriate consumer access

3.ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

• Acceptable use policy (AUP) – a policy that a user must agree to follow in order to be provided access to a network or to the Internet

• An AUP usually contains a nonrepudiation clause– Nonrepudiation – a contractual stipulation to ensure

that e-business participants do not deny (repudiate) their online actions

ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

4.E-MAIL PRIVACY POLICY

• Organizations can mitigate the risks of e-mail and instant messaging communication tools by implementing and adhering to an e-mail privacy policy.

• E-mail privacy policy – details the extent to which e-mail message may be read by others.

• Simply deleting an e-mail from one computer does not delete it off the other computers.

• Generally the organization that owns the e-mail system can operate the system as openly or privately as it wishes.

E-MAIL PRIVACY POLICY

5.INTERNET USE POLICY

• Internet use policy – contains general principles to guide the proper use of the Internet

6.ANTI-SPAM POLICY

• Spam – unwanted e-mail

• Spam accounts for 40% to 60% of most organizations’ e-mail and cost U.S. businesses over $10 billion in 2003

• Anti-spam policy – simply states that e-mail users will not send unsolicited e-mails (or spam)

Spam prevention tips

• Disguise e-mail addresses posted in a public

electronic place.

• avoid from member directories that may place an e-

mail address online.

• Use a filter.

Ethics in the Workplace

• Workplace monitoring is a concern for many employees

• Organizations can be held financially responsible for their employees’ actions

• The dilemma surrounding employee monitoring in the workplace is that an organization is placing itself at risk if it fails to monitor its employees, however, some people feel that monitoring employees is unethical

MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES• Monitoring – tracking people’s activities by such

measures as number of keystrokes, error rate, and number of transactions processed

EMPLOYEE MONITORING POLICIES

• Employee monitoring policies – explicitly state how, when, and where the company monitors its employees